We’ve borrowed Sharon Skelly’s photo of her one-day old pups to drive home the point that their breed has a lot of firsts of which to be proud.

One of their kind was the first dog in the history of the AKC to have won 100 Best in Shows;

In 1924, the first AKC-licensed pointing-breeds field trial was conducted by the club organized to promote and protect their breed;

Their breed was one of the nine original charter breeds of the AKC recognized in 1878:

Their’s isn’t an old breed, it’s an ancient breed, its origins dating back about 400–500 years. Indeed, many believe their breed to be the oldest type of setter. And just now, we gave you a clue. Here’s the clincher clue for anyone still guessing: The first dog registered with the AKC was their breed.

Ding ding ding if you identified these youngsters to be English Setters!

English Setters by Percival Leonard Rosseau (American, 1859-1937)

These babies are a breed that is different from other setters because of the terrain in which they were developed to work. While the Irish Setter was bred to be the fastest sporting dog because of Ireland’s many wide-open fields, the Gordon Setter had to hunt the heaviest cover and harshest ground in all of Great Britain, Scotland, and therefore, the Gordon is the heaviest and largest of the setters. Irish Red & White Setters have a great ability to naturally adjust to new hunting conditions and terrain, including quartering and hunting deeper in open country and staying close in heavy, thick cover because Ireland not only has the aforementioned open fields, but also peat bogs. The English Setter worked in moderate terrain, and thus, has often been described as moderate. In fact, the English Setter standard specifically states, “Extremes of anything distort type and must be faulted.”

This is an elegant, substantial and symmetrical gun dog, which, using different terms, exhibits a pleasing blend of grace, strength, stamina, and style. There is enough body and bone to endure in field work, but because the English Setter doesn’t work in heavy cover, heavy bone as found in the Gordon Setter isn’t needed, nor the lighter bone of an IRWS working in Ireland. Indeed, the English is the most moderate of the four setters, a gentleman’s hunting companion who can cover ground most of the day, and spread out in front of a fire at night offering amiable companionship.

English Setter pups..jpg